


(Not) a Mistake

by oceankat8



Series: LadyIrina is personally responsible for me not sleeping at night [2]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Idiot, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21826612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceankat8/pseuds/oceankat8
Summary: Corin doesn’t understand why people keep thinking they’re married.(A Series of one shots about other people realizing what our boys won’t admit)
Relationships: The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Corin (LadyIrina)
Series: LadyIrina is personally responsible for me not sleeping at night [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572814
Comments: 89
Kudos: 772





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Rescue and Regret](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21648874) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



Corin was sitting at a booth in the corner of a quiet restaurant, gently bouncing the child on his knee as the Mandalorian discussed terms with their newest client.

“We don’t have much I’m afraid,” the woman said, she was pretty is a humble kind of way, soft brown eyes and gentle curls.

The Mandalorian seemed to be comfortable around her, his usual stiffness softening the longer they spoke to the point where he was almost leaning into Corin. Even the child seemed loose and happy. Compared to before, when so much of his life had been fight after fight, moments like this left Corin feeling strange. 

“But we do have some Beskar. It was passed down from my grandfather, he had saved it up his whole life. Would tell us that one day we would need it, but it’s useless to us here so we never understood why.”

Corin’s gaze flickered to the Mandalorian, If he didn’t know better he’d say he was just as indifferent as he was before, but there was something attentive in the tilt of his helmet. He had been willing to help before, but now, there was no way he’d say no.

“But you’re covered in it,” the woman continued, excited “and you’re a warrior, so you must be able to help” 

“I can,” the Mandalorian finally spoke, he gestured at Corin and the child, “But we’ll need lodging as well. And food” 

The woman agreed easily, before taking out a meager supply of Beskar, likely not enough to make so much as a pauldron. But it was still Beskar. 

Corin tried to ignore the weight of the Beskar on his own shoulder, stamp down the hope he felt whenever he glanced gently at it. Ignoring the realization of what he felt that night by the fire. Rejection would hurt too much, so for now he danced around it, did everything he could to be useful, to stay close to the family he so desperately wanted to be a part of. 

The Mandalorian and the woman continued discussing the job for a bit longer, but Corin was distracted from the talk by the child gently cooing and grabbing at his fingers. Corin smiled, before the kid gave up and tried to eat a spoon instead. 

By the time Corin had successfully wrestled the choking hazard from the kid, the Mandalorian had left, likely to start the research part of the job, and Corin was left alone (mostly) with the client.

“He’s a good man” she said, talking about the Mandalorian. Corin felt something sink in his chest, she had looked good sitting across from him. They suited each other, her soft calm nature undercutting his rougher edges and emotionless mask. He didn’t want to call it jealousy, didn’t deserve to, maybe envy? Wanting something he could never have?

“He is” Corin agreed, not thinking about the foolish urge he had to stake a claim, to somehow write his companion off to the rest of the world, but, he didn’t have that right.

Honestly, he had no idea how the man put up with him. 

The Mandalorian had a clear boundary, not wanting people in his space, especially not touching him, yet Corin had, over and over again, stepped over that boundary. He shook his head, there was no reason why he was so fixated on the man’s wrist. 

He had even touched his neck! It was just, he was always wearing that cape, Corin was caught off guard, moving before he even realized what had happened. 

He was surprised to still be alive after that.

The child crawled out of his lap, reaching for Corin’s uneaten portion. He scooted it closer, allowing the kid to happily munch, he wasn’t hungry anyways.

The woman had been staring at him, something knowing in her eyes. “How long have you been together?” She asked and Corin looked up, confused why she would care about something like that.

“I joined his crew when he saved my life on planet-“

“No, sorry, I meant…” she paused collecting her thoughts, “you’re married yes? How long have you been  _ together _ ”

Corin choked on air, jostling the poor child as he tried to recover from the sudden shock to his system. 

“Married? Why does everyone- why would you think that?” 

She blinked, taken aback at his reaction. Her eyes roamed over to his shoulder, as if she was checking to make sure of what she had seen before she spoke again, “the Beskar, my grandfather said it was a sacred tool to those who wore it. Surely that is a symbol of claim that he has placed upon you. Are you not yet wed?”

Corin’s shoulder itched, he looked down at the child. He had stopped eating and was instead staring up at them, wide black eyes blinking slowly as if judging the adults around him. 

Maybe the Mandalorian was right when he called him a womprat.

He sighed, “it’s not like that, he just didn’t like my old armor” he refrained from explaining why, it was unlikely she would take well to his past, “and I’m not useful to him dead. So I’m just wearing his old armor, the pauldron was…”

Actually, what was the pauldron? A gift for sure, but he’d never understood why. Not really. He only had the Mandalorian’s own words to fall back on with that. “Part of a payment, I helped out with a job so that’s what I got?”

“You’re uncertain” she smiled, “he is a man of little words, perhaps you should talk more of your own desires”

There was nothing he wanted less than to admit his desires, to put himself in so vulnerable a position as that. 

Then again, he remembered the moment he had held onto the man’s wrist so he wouldn’t storm away, the heat he had felt. The blush he could see building as he teased him about his mistake in booking their room. 

It had been an unconscious moment of bravery, of pushing his limit and he hadn’t been kicked out yet. 

But those were dangerous thoughts. 

“I would rather suffer by his side than risk losing him to my own wants” he whispered.

“I understand,” she said, looking him in the eyes. There was a deep sorrow in them, and something told him she understood even more than she let on, “But I warn you, it’s easy to lose something if you never know what it is you have.”

He swallowed, heart heavy, words almost at the tip of his tongue, would he risk admitting what he had spent so long denying? Even if it was to this stranger?

But before he had a chance, the Mandalorian was back, sliding into the booth, his thigh pressing into Corin’s. He didn’t think about it, he knew the Mandalorian certainly didn’t spare it a second thought. 

He turned his attention back to the kid, and listened halfheartedly as the Mandalorian discussed the plan. 

Hopefully this time he would be useful.


	2. Cara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corin gets to meet Mando’s best friend, at least, he thinks she’s his best friend?

“Wait, he leaned his head against yours?” Cara asked, her voice incredulous, “like, his helmet, pressed against your forehead?”

Corin just nodded, they’d been trading stories since they ran into each other, the Mandalorian introducing them in his usual way, gruff and quick. Which meant saying, “she’s a friend” before storming off, probably to find a bounty or something. 

Leaving Corin once more babysitting, luckily it seemed Cara was familiar with the child, as he cooed excitedly upon seeing her, and hadn’t let go of her arm since. Corin would feel jealous if he wasn’t grateful for the reprieve. 

“Uh yeah, I guess, I wasn’t thinking much about that part really”

“Hmmm yeah, that’s not exactly platonic”

She lifted the child up, placing him on her shoulders as he chortled, “he give the kid a name yet?”

He just shook his head, keeping an eye on the kid as he climbed on the ex-bounty hunter. “Not for lack of me trying either”

She chuckled, “maybe it’s a Mando thing? Like, no names, only …. Mando”

He found himself laughing as well, comfortable in the easy camaraderie of finally finding someone else who had spent time with the Mandalorian and had actually parted friends. 

“I’m serious though, that’s like, kissing for a Mandalorian” she said, returning to the previous topic. They had been talking about moments the Mandalorian had done something unexpected or strange, and had been laughing their guts off at their shared stories. 

“Sure” he said, shaking his head, “then he kissed that Rodian Assassin that came after him last week too” Corin had watched, enraptured, as the Mandalorian had completely taken the assassin down from a place of disadvantage, starting with a sharp headbut to gain distance and moving into a quick reflexive dance that had even Corin’s joints aching in pity. 

She laughed again, at least someone thought he was funny, all the time with the Mandalorian had him thinking he’d lost his touch as quip after quip went ignored, fading into the awkward space between them. 

At least, he was fairly certain they were being ignored, it wasn’t like he had ever caught him laughing.

“I’m fairly certain the only emotion he had is anger” he said softly, breaking the mood slightly, a twisted smile on his face as he tried to pretend it was a joke. 

“Nah,” she said, leaning back and catching the child as he jumped into her arms from her shoulder, “that’s just all that comes through the mask. You gotta start looking elsewhere if you want other emotions. Worry shows up in his hands, you can see it in motion whenever anyone does anything with the kiddo here” 

Corin nodded, thoughts slinking back to other moments, times he remembered the Mandalorian reacting to things in seemingly stoic ways. Puzzle pieces suddenly clicking in his mind.

“Frustration shows up through the helmet too, he’ll cock his head dramatically, and look away.”

She smiled, pointing at him, “ _ yes, _ that, ‘how dare you waste my time! I’m a big bad Mandalorian’ look! I’ve seen it, I am familiar”

Encouraged, he continued, “and tension shows up in his shoulders, whenever something is about to go down, you can look at him and he’ll be as stiff as a board”

Cara nodded, “but once it’s started he might as well be water the way he moves. Jeez that guy’s good in a fight.”

Corin tried not to think about it, it was hard enough to hide what feelings he had, if he started visibly thirsting over the man in front of his best friend (he assumed, the Mandalorian rarely introduced someone as a friend. In fact, it had never happened before).

“I swear he loses an inch or two when he’s relaxed”

“You’ve seen him relax?” Cara asked, impressed, “I didn’t think Mandalorians could even do that”

“You wouldn’t think it, but he’s practically melted wax when it comes to the kid,” and then, as if he knew they were talking about him the kid giggled loudly. 

“I bet, he’s a flustered mess around you though” she smirked, but Corin just shook his head.

“He just doesn’t know what to do with me, I’m just kind of hitchhiking for as long as he’ll have me”

Cara muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “till death do you part” but Corin didn’t say anything. The roll of her eyes was an indicator that he could even get on her nerves so he tried to change the topic instead. 

“You said he almost left the kid behind?”

She just nodded, allowing the change before saying “yeah, dumbass. Was all ‘it’s better for him, being raised like a proper child etc…’ I doubt he realizes how much he really means to him.” 

Her eyes caught his, frustrated, “kinda like someone else he keeps around. Must suck to have that in common.” 

He blinked, “I don’t-“

“You’re an oblivious idiot. Just like him”

“The Mandalorian is the most observant person I know, he could probably spot a mercenary by a slight change in the air currents of a city” 

She rolled her eyes again, Corrin started to wonder if they’d get stuck with how often she seemed to do it. 

“I’m gonna snap and kill you both, and the only thing stopping me is the desperate need I have to be able to look back at this and say ‘I told you so’ in the most obnoxious voice I can muster” 

This time it was Corin that rolled his eyes. 

What was it with people mistaking the Mandalorian’s tolerance with affection? Surely they knew better than to think Corin deserved something as impossible as that?

They continued talking about nothing as they waited for the Mandalorian to return, and Corin found his mind wandering aimlessly to the patch of skin on the man’s wrist, skin he had unwittingly come to be more familiar with than he would admit out loud.

And he wondered, in the comfort of his own mind, if he’d get to see him blush again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s up? I love Cara and don’t have any other excuse for this.  
> Also I’m def ignoring what just happened in the actual show.


	3. Cara and Mando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cara confronts Mando about the Beskar

Cara Dune was not the first person the Mandalorian had expected to see when he and his small crew arrived on this particular planet, but he wouldn’t deny the soft relief that he had felt upon seeing her, an ally and fellow enemy of the guild.

So he’d introduced her to Corin and left them with the kid to find work so they would have enough money to pay for a place to stay. By the time he’d gotten back, the two of them had become closer than he’d expected, and apparently it was entirely at his expense. 

“No seriously,” Corin said, not noticing the Mandalorian’s approach, “the kid was levitating him, in the air. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen”

Cara looked up and deliberately met his gaze before responding, “yeah? So even the kid agrees that guy needs to chill, I swear he’s so high strung, if he ever tried to relax he’d probably break his programming.”

Corin chuckled, “programming? That’s kinda funny, maybe that’s why he hates droids so much, he secretly-“

“Having fun?” The Mandalorian interrupted, not caring to hear the rest of the conversation.

Corin blanched as Cara laughed, shooting a sharp whisper towards her about telling him the next time the Mandalorian sneaks up behind him so he doesn’t say something dumb. The Mandalorian smiles behind his mask at seeing him so at ease, but quickly shoots the feeling down before he does something he’d regret. 

So instead he sits down in the space next to him and ignores the subtle warmth of his body heat as he turns to his friend, “didn’t take you for the gossip type”

She smirked, a knowing look in her eyes that left the Mandalorian on guard, “didn’t take you for the romantic type yet here we are”

He didn’t react visibly, at least, not beyond the helmet, but he heard a hissed  _ “Cara”  _ from beside him and decided she was probably trying to cause trouble more than anything else, so he elected to ignore it. 

“I’m gonna see if the kid will take a nap, he’s usually pretty sleepy after he eats” Corin said, picking up the child and making a hasty retreat from the table. The Mandalorian tried not to think about how he’d much rather have him stay, sleepy child and all, it was just because it would be easier to keep an eye on them that way.

Easier to protect them.

That’s all.

“Soooo….” Cara said, pulling his attention back to her. “Cute baby sitter”

He didn’t dignify that with a response. 

“Okay I’ll cut the crap, so does he know you practically put a warning sign on the poor guy, ‘Mandalorian Property: Do Not Touch’ or are you just gonna leave him in the dark?”

He rolled his eyes, of course she would notice that, she was always far too observant about trivial things.

“Okay, I recognize that vague head tilt, and no, I’m not going to let you downplay this because he’s wearing BESKAR” 

She was leaning closer now, her voice raised, but not enough to draw attention, “and I may not be a Mandalorian myself, but I’ve met a few and they don’t hand that shit out like candy”

“Are you done?” He asked, knowing the answer.

“No, I’m not, but thanks for asking” she said, leaning back in her chair once more, “so is that like, step one in the courting process or are you on like, seven or eight by now? Cause I heard about the Keldabe Kiss too.”

Of course she did. The Mandalorian wondered, fleetingly, if Corin had even realized she was interrogating him, or if he’d simply fallen so hard into the trap of friendly conversation. “You’re reading into this too much.”

“That boy thinks you hung the moon”

He sighed, he knew that, sort of. In an off way where he didn’t really want to admit it because the idea of Corin holding him up on some kind of pedestal made his skin crawl. But the way he was always risking his life, the way he clung to him after his nightmare, begging not to be left behind as if the Mandalorian could  _ ever even think _ to do that. 

“Man,” Cara continued, “and here I thought I’d seen you head over heels before. But this, this is bad.”

He gave up.

“I can’t”

She rolled her eyes, “Oh, of course not, I forgot, that’s the Way isn’t it?”

“Cara-“ 

“I’m not done,” she interrupted, “I had another question.”

The Mandalorian stayed quiet, it was easier than trying to fight her for the last word, he was never all that well spoken any ways. 

“So, once you’ve covered him entirely in Beskar and he’s like, one of you, can you kiss him or is it all Keldabe stuff? Like, do you just leave the helmet on-?”

The Mandalorian stood up from the table, he should have known where this conversation was going.

“Wait! I’m serious!!” She called after him, “I need it for my personal research.”

He paused, curious enough to turn around, “personal research?”

Cara simply shrugged, “yeah? Like, what if I found a cute Mando-lady and wanted to shoot my shot? I need to know the likelihood of lip to lip kissing in that instance. It would severely impact my decision making”

They stared at one another for a time as the Mandalorian digested what she had said, then he simply replied “I do not envy your friends, if all of your conversations turn to this”

“Not all of them,” she disagreed, “most end in fights.” 

That, he was more familiar with, “is that still an option?”

She just laughed, “I wouldn’t want to embarrass you so bad with your boy-toy nearby. See you around Mando”

And with that, he left. He had a family to get back to, and though he couldn’t admit so aloud, at least, not yet, that’s exactly what they were. At least, in any way that mattered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando POV! He’s head over heels, but will he admit it? Spoiler alert! No! He won’t!

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said I wouldn’t write more, but there was a scene that hit me like a truck from LadyIrina’s fanfic and I just... I needed to write something. This is attached slightly to my last fic as well, might put them in a series so it’s easier. 
> 
> Sorry!!!!


End file.
